On a cap-strapped roster with few obvious building blocks, however, Armstead has emerged as one of coach Sean Payton's favorites.

"There's not a left tackle I would trade him for in the league," Payton said this week, via ESPN.com. "I really like the way he's progressed. He's smart, he's athletic. And last week if you watch the tape, you can see that he's not 100 percent and he fights through it."

Although he blew the doors off the NFL Scouting Combine with an astonishing showcase of athleticism, Armstead was viewed as a developmental prospect coming out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.